Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley believes a deal between the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf League could be announced before the Masters in April.

The PGA Tour has been in protracted negotiations with LIV Golf’s backers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), in an attempt to find agreement on the structure of professional golf.

“The best thing for the game is to come together somehow – it’s not going to be easy as we’ve seen, it’s taken a long time to get to where we are, but it sounds like we’re closer now than we ever have been,” McGinley told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.

“It’s not going to start with everybody back as friends – it’ll be a slow process in that regard.

“But the main thing is to find some kind of umbrella that both tours can work under as well as the DP World Tour and then try to get some kind of schedule out of that.

“There’s going to be something announced and from what I hear, it’s going to be announced relatively soon, maybe even before the Masters.”

LIV Golf was launched in 2022 and has Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka among its high-profile list of players.

Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin joined the tour last month, opting to forgo the PGA Tour card he secured two months earlier and going against the advice of compatriot and mentor Rory McIlroy.